One of favorite labels, Downtown Records (home to Fool’s Gold and Mad Decent, among others) is celebrating its five year anniversary next month with two awesome nights of music, right here in New York City.

On Friday, March 4th, Downtown will take over Webster Hall for the first night of festivities. We’ve always had a soft spot for Japanese quartet The Suzan, but they really blew us away last week when they opened for Chromeo at Terminal 5. If you haven’t already (and even if you have), make it a point to see this band before they head back to the motherland. The line-up also features A-Trak, Art Brut, White Denim and Lissy Trullie. Tickets available HERE.

The party continues on March 5th at Terminal 5 with Miike Snow, Major Lazer with special guest Santigold, DJ Mehdi and So Me. I think the line-up speaks for itself. As a matter of fact, it’s already sold out.

CLICK HERE to get tickets for the first night at Webster Hall, and if you’re not familiar with the entire line-up, fret not, our friends at RCRLBL have you covered with a free playlist. Check it out HERE.

With Electric Zoo Festival only a few days away, we over at The HiFi Cartel are prepping ourselves in every way possible for what promises to be a truly epic weekend brimming with colorful adventures into the world of electronic music – our favorite kind. While constructing outrageous outfits and buying lot’s of sunscreen are definitely high on our list of to-dos, there is nothing more important than ensuring that the most is made of the incredible array of talent that the good people over at Made Event have blessed us with. With the festival featuring two full days of the best DJs and producers from around the world, navigating your way through this delightful beat driven wonderland can be a bit daunting to say the least, and if you’re anything like us, fear of missing out can quickly become crippling paranoia without a little organization. With that in mind, we’ve put together a brief guide featuring our favorite must-see artists to help you maneuver through the madness. Take a deep breath, here we go…

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Hard’s signature party went poolside at the Winter Music Conference in Miami. The sold-out event featured Erol Alkan, Boys Noize, Busy P, DJ Mehdi, Fake Blood, Jack Beats, Annie Mac, Brodinski, Destructo, Aeroplane, Boy 8 Bit, Rory Phillips and Gina Turner.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL ALBUM

This past Thursday, Dim Mak presented a showcase hosted by Roxy Cottontail that included Ninjasonik, Japanther, Team Facelift, The Auctioneers,  DJs Gina Turner, Jonathan Famous, Fashen and “(not so) secret European guests” DJ Mehdi, Justice, Uffie and others in town for Ed Banger Record’s seven year anniversary party. The roller-coaster-of-a-night fueled moments of beers in the air, crowd surfing and a party with enough noise and bass to render 96 Lafayette Street on the richter scale as a minuscule earthquake. Fat Jew of Team Facelift summed it up best when he remarked, “its time to make mistakes… let’s have some fun.” And indeed, they did – bringing along rapper Buckshot for the festivities.

Back from their European tour, Ninjasonik rocked the crowd…as usual. DJ Fasheen followed with a combination of mixes that added to the reverberation on the riveting and busy dance floor. The toast of the night, DJ Mehdi surprised the audience with a set that packed the dance floor well into the night. Displaying a great variety of talent and acts (mainly from New York), Cloak and Dagger vivified  a cold Winter night with fun indoors. The event seeks to “provide the best in electro” and “solidify dominance over the dance floor” as a part of a new monthly series at Santos Party House with Steve Aoki’s Dim  Mak label.

Check out photos from the revelry of Cloak and Dagger by Oliver Correa.

When you hit the seven-year mark, you either go big or go home, and after making the trip across the Atlantic, the latter was definitely not an option for French label Ed Banger Records. Everything about their seven-year anniversary celebration was massive: the venue, the line-up, the cake, and the overall atmosphere hit all the right notes for the sold-out crowd at Terminal 5.

The evening began with DJ sets by Breakbot and DJ Mehdi, followed by a surprise guest set by Ed Banger “cousin” A-Trak. Uffie, accompanied by Ed Banger DJ/producer Feadz, briefly took the stage to perform two songs, ”MC’s Can Kiss” and “Illusion of Love”, from her new album, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans.

Head honcho Busy P had the most festive set, which saw the unveiling of the four-layer cake and a colorful balloon drop into the gleeful audience. He played songs by the Bloody Beetroots, Major Lazer and 50 Cent, and segued into Justice’s set with “Tthhee Ppaarrttyy”. When Justice took over, Busy P ceremoniously cut the cake as Feadz cheerfully handed out pieces to the audience. Justice played all of their hits, including a mash-up of D.A.N.C.E. with Bob Sinclar’s breakout hit “Gym Tonic”.

After the show ended at 2 AM, we headed to Webster Hall for the after party, which was already in full swing. The rest of the Ed Banger crew also came through to continue the celebration and show their support for So Me, SebastiAn, and Feadz. During his set, SebastiAn hilariously dropped Mariah Carey’s “I Can’t Live (if living is without you)”, a song that the French seem to adore, and in a Webster Hall first, he took one of the CDJs into the audience, allowing them to manipulate the sounds from Feadz’s set. By 5 AM, the party was still going strong, until security called it a night and ushered out the crowd.

We’ve seen a lot of anniversary parties in our time, but this one definitely takes the cake. CLICK HERE for photos of the “Ed Banger Seven” at Terminal 5, and HERE for photos of the after party at Webster Hall.

Next week, Dim Mak will return to the east coast with their bimonthly “Cloak and Dagger” party. Their last event in November was pure and utter mayhem (in the best possible way), and with repeat performances by Team Facelift and Ninjasonik, we are anticipating another crazy night. Japanther and The Auctioneers are also slated to perform live, with DJ sets by Fashen, DJ Jonny Famous and Gina Turner.

The real question is, who are the “(not so) secret European guests”? Since Ed Banger Records is celebrating their seven-year anniversary at Terminal 5 on the following night, we’re hoping that Justice, Busy P, DJ Mehdi, and/or Breakbot will pop in for a surprise set.

Win tickets after the jump by letting us know who you think the (not so) secret European guests will be… Or you can purchase tickets HERE. There are a limited number of $5 advance tickets available – get the access code by emailing partyline@dimmak.com.

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On February 12, Ed Banger Records will celebrate their seven-year anniversary with a massive party at Terminal 5. The French electronic label was founded in 2002 by Pedro Winter (aka Busy P), and gained notoriety in 2007 with international hits from Justice and Uffie. The anniversary party will feature DJ sets from Ed Banger artists Justice, DJ Mehdi, Busy P and Breakbot. And if the music isn’t enough to convince you, the Cowboys & Girls dress code will make for some damn good people watching. Be sure to get your tickets in advance – last October, Justice’s DJ set at Webster Hall sold out with plenty of time to spare.

To prepare for the madness, be sure to check out DJ Mehdi and Busy P’s BBC Essential Mix (streamed below), photos from Xavier de Rosnay and Busy P’s DJ sets at Girls & Boys at Webster Hall (which also happens to be The HiFi Cartel’s very first photo gallery), and click through for a photo from our recent encounter with Breakbot at the Wired Pop-Up Store.

DJ Mehdi & Busy P – Essential Mix

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